Blood on the Moon
by Jyira Keller
Summary: A Girl is attacked by a werewolf during a camping trip and drawn into a world of darkness and power she never imagined.
1. Default Chapter

Disclaimer: NW belongs to LJS. Everything else is mine.   
  
Summary: A Girl is attacked by a werewolf during a camping trip and drawn into a world of darkness and power she never imagined.   
  
Notes: Pleas for feedback. I'm also going to point out despite the references made to the movie The Blair Witch Project this story has NOTHING to do with it.   
  
  
  
Okay, who's bright idea was this? I hate camping, I don't even know why I agreed to go. Just the idea of being alone in the woods, cut off from people, with no TV and no phones or anything interesting. Only trees, rocks, dirt...yuck. What type of activity is this for a group of high school seniors anyway? Please. We could have done something so much more fun. But someone said, "Let's go camping." I'm so pissed off I can't even remember who.  
  
Muttering and cursing under my breath, I moved around my room, throwing things into a duffle bag. Of course, if I didn't go my friends would be disappointed in me and I couldn't allow that to happen. Normally, I'm the one who decides where we go and what we do, everyone seems to look to me to lead. I don't know what cloud my head was on when someone suggested this. I feel like killing myself.  
  
"What?" I snapped when someone knocked on my door.  
  
"Seraphin? You ready yet?" There was a definite hint of amusement in the voice of my best friend Amber. She was leaning there, trying not to smile, pulling on her red ponytail. She was dressed in jeans, a white top and sneakers.   
  
I looked up and an idea hit me. I faked a few coughs. "I'm not feeling too good," I said in my best feel-sorry-for-me-voice. "I don't think I can go."  
  
Amber snorted. She, of course, could see right through me. "Seraphin grow up. It's only for a weekend."  
  
"I hate camping!" I whined. "You don't know what could be lurking out there."  
  
Amber laughed. "You afraid the Blair Witch will get you?"  
  
Amber ducked as I threw a pillow at her. I'd hated that movie and she knew it. It had terrified me and I had vowed never to step foot in a wood again. I refused to admit that I was afraid that what had happened to those kids was going to happen to us. But of course, that was complete bullshit and I knew it. My overactive imagination strikes again.   
  
But that didn't mean something else wouldn't get us. There were wild animals and all sorts...psychos in the woods looking for victims...anything...  
  
Why couldn't we go somewhere safe?   
  
Amber tapped her foot impatiently. "Come on Seraphin, everyone's waiting for you."  
  
"Well they'll just have to wait longer," I snapped., pulling a brush through my long raven hair which I'd streaked with cerulean blue to give me a sort of "dark" look. I loved dark clothes and horror movies and the supernatural. But I loved reading about them and watching them. I did not want to be part of them.  
  
I shivered suddenly, unsure why.   
  
* * *  
  
I scowled out the window if my friend Jesse's jeep; watching the rain pouring feeling as miserable as the damn weather. Going camping was bad enough, but to go in the rain...  
  
These people were insane.   
  
Someone threw something at me; angry and annoyed, I hurled picked up the small soft cushion and threw it back with an astonishing amount of force I didn't know I had. It almost hit the driver and for a moment the car swerved on the slick, wet roads.   
  
"Jesus, Seraphin!" Jesse snorted. "You're going to get us all killed *before* we get lost in the woods."  
  
"Oh come on!" Amber said brightly. "It'll be fun! We'll be able to commune with nature, get back to our native routes..."  
  
She went on blathering about the woods and trees and nature and various natural crap that meant nothing to me. Amber was heavily into all that New Age stuff. She loved weird sounding music and the strange gypsy-like clothing sold in our local shop. Personally, I thought it was all a load of bullshit, but then, everyone had an opinion of their own.   
  
Usually people always knew mine. I didn't care what people thought of me when I blab about things. I normally had my own way. I didn't this time, which was probably why I was so mad.   
  
"Oh shut up Amber," Rick Marcos snapped from the front passenger seat. He sounded as grouchy as I did. I grinned to myself. At least someone was on my wavelength. They say great minds think alike...  
  
"I don't know how I let you guys talk me into this," Rick muttered sullenly. "I hate camping. I agree with Seraphin."  
  
"You guys are so boring!" Amber said dismissively. "We'll have a great time!"  
  
Rick glanced over at me, his eyebrows raised. I just shrugged. I wondered how I managed to become friends with Amber in the first place.  
  
The only woods near by were a two-hour drive away from out town, Redbrook Creek, a small community in Washington State. It was okay, nice and homely, everyone who lived there had all their lives, and everyone knew everyone else. Nothing exciting ever happened to us. We're a very boring town.  
  
  
Lately though, I'd been longing for something to happen. Plain old routine can only be okay for so long. But surely every person must wish for excitement or something interesting to happen every now and again.  
  
I know I do. Even someone new coming would be interesting. But no one new ever came. I wondered if the rest of the world knew we existed.   
  
Of course, every town has its stories. Some people said that a Wolf-Man lived in the forest. Animals had been found, their insides eaten. Gross. There were even rumours that people had been discovered too, mauled by death by giant beasts. They weren't rue.   
  
Just stories. They weren't true.  
  
If they were, no one would be allowed anywhere near the woods where we were going. I shuddered at the thought of what could be lurking out there.   
  
* * *  
  
The rain eased up as we neared the woods and by the time we'd parked and were hauling our gear through the woods, looking for somewhere suitable to set up camp it had stopped completely. Blue skies appeared overhead, through the murky cloud sunlight shone in little golden rays lighting up patches on the forest floor.  
  
"Didn't I tell you we'd have fun?" Amber said brightly. She was probably the only one of us who wasn't ready to turn around and go home.   
  
"I'm hot, sweaty, tired and I broke a nail," I whined. "Yeah, I'm having a great time."  
  
"You and your goddamn nails," Rick muttered.   
  
I stared at him, my eyebrows raised. "You were not complaining about my nails on Monday night," I reminded him with a sly smile, making motions like a kitten swiping something with claws.  
  
Rick flushed. "That's a different subject."  
  
Jesse snorted. "But it's your favourite subject, right?"  
  
Amber was looking at us, a confused expression on her face. I sighed heavily. Amber had absolutely no idea about some times. If she got her head out the clouds once in a while maybe she'd have some ideas about real life.   
  
"What are you guys talking about?"  
  
"Don't ask," I sad. I glanced up at the sky. We'd been hiking for about two hours and still hadn't come across anything interesting. To me, one patch of trees looked exactly like another. A violent shiver went through me suddenly. I had no idea why I kept shaking like this. I kept telling myself it was all in my head, but something was telling me maybe it wasn't.   
* * *  
  
  
  
  
The sky had darkened and I decided it was time to camp. I let Amber and the guys do the work, while I just stood there scowling at the surroundings, again fervently wishing I was anywhere but here.   
  
The rapidly darkening sky and lengthening shadows were eerie. I kept expecting to hear footsteps crunching all around us. Something we couldn't see chasing us out our tent in the middle of the night, leaving things outside our tent...  
  
But what I heard was worse than crunching footsteps.   
  
A howl suddenly screamed out the darkness.  
  
And I wasn't the only one scared by it. I glanced over at the others. They had stopped what they were doing, all of them alert, all glancing around. The howl came again, long, drawn out and spooky in the deathly-silence afterwards.  
  
And that was when it hit me I couldn't hear any other sounds. I couldn't hear any birds, insects, crickets or anything. Of course, it was night, I told myself, do what did I expect? There'd be sounds in the morning.  
  
But morning was a long time coming.   
  
* * *  
  



	2. Part 2

We spent the rest of the evening doing general kiddie camping things, toasting marshmallows, telling stupid ghost stories. What a waste of a good weekend. We could have gone clubbing, or even going to the movies and for burgers afterwards would have been more fun than this.  
  
As far as I was concerned the only high light of the evening was when Amber came up with the age-old prank of wet-leaves in the boy's sleeping bags. Rick screamed when there were a few slugs in there. That was very funny. He wouldn't go back in his own tent, so poor Jesse's all alone and Rick's snuggled up with me in mine.  
  
I groaned and turned over, pulling my pillow over my head. Typical I have to pick a boyfriend who snores like a pig. Outside I could hear sounds, like rustling in the leaves, footsteps...I kept telling myself it was all in my imagination. There was no one else but us out here. We were going to go home alive.  
  
And yet, all the reassurances seemed to sound hollow. Eventually I couldn't take anymore. The noises were driving me mad, and I needed the bathroom too. Yuck. I waited until I couldn't hold on any longer. I was going to have to find a bush or something. I had no choice. Groaning again, I pulled on jeans and a sweater. As the darkness had increased, the temperature had decreased. It was freezing outside. I reached for a flashlight and checked to make sure it worked. For a few seconds the tent was illuminated with yellow light. Good. I switched it off, not wanting to waste the batteries.  
  
"Seraphin?" Rick grumbled. "Where the hell are you going at this hour? You hate the woods."  
  
"I have ladies business to take care of," I said briefly. "And I can't wait until morning."  
  
I left the tent then and pulled on my sneakers. Once outside I put the light on. Some of the darkness disappeared, but not much. I glanced up at the sky. Millions of stars twinkled like ice chips, millions of miles away, and an almost full moon hung in the sky. Didn't the full moon bring out the lunatics? Oh great. And we were still in the middle of fucking nowhere.  
  
I debated on taking Jesse's car keys while he slept, and just leaving now. But the woods around me were pitch black, hardly any light came through, and even with my flashlight, there was no way I was going in very deep alone.   
  
Something rustled behind me and I spun round. The flashlight beam bounced off the trees, creating eerie shadows. "Rick?" I called out. "No fair playing games on me, you asshole. Go away."  
  
Now I wished I hadn't said that. I wished I'd woken him and made him come with me, and then I wouldn't have been alone. Or maybe I should have woken Amber. Oh the hell with it. I didn't care anymore. All that mattered to me was getting back to the clearing.   
  
I started pushing my way through the trees. The clearing where our camp was should be right...here.  
  
But it wasn't.   
  
The clearing was empty. Confused, I turned back the way I'd come, or as close as I could find in the dark. No camp. Shit. I was lost. How could I have gotten lost in such a short space of time? I guess it must be with everything looking so fucking similar.   
  
Panic was starting to well up inside me. God, I'd really done it to myself now. I opened my mouth and screamed as loud as I could. Surely they'd hear me. They'd come and see what was wrong and find me and I'd make them all pack up and go home right now. And then they'd be feeling guilty for weeks because they'd scared me so bad.  
  
I screamed again. Nothing. No one. This was ridiculous. Where the hell were they?   
  
The rustling sound came again, from somewhere to my left. Thank God. They'd heard me and had come. I breathed a huge sigh of relief. "I'm gonna kill you guys for this! I don't care what time it is, we're going home *right* *now,*" I snapped.   
  
And something came flying out the darkness at me. Not one of the boys playing tricks. Not even Amber playing tricks. The thing snarled and growled. I stood, frozen in terror, staring as it flew at me.   
  
A wolf.  
  
There was a large *wolf* flying at me.  
  
I ran.  
  
Charged with the supernatural strength the terror gave me, I screamed and ran, just ran, not caring or knowing where I was going, only knowing that I had to get away or this wolf would eat me. Its teeth would dig into my flesh and rip it apart and I would die a terrible death.  
  
No one would find my body for days. I'd have rotted, all alone out here in the woods where no one knew I was there...  
  
No. No. I had to get away. But it seemed so hopeless. The more I ran, the faster I tried to move, the closer the monster behind me seemed.   
  
Something smashed into my face - a branch or something - and not paying attention, I shrieked and fell.   
  
Damn.   
  
I'd blown it.   
  
The creature landed on top of me. Its claws were digging painfully into my shoulders, turning the pain into a heated agony that spread over my body.  
  
I was crying now, I could feel the cold tears spilling down my cheeks, taste the salt on my lips.  
  
I was going to die.  
  
Now.  
  
Right now.  
  
The creature seemed to be studying me. It ran a black paw through my hair, its muzzle rubbed against my face, as if trying to wipe the tears away.  
  
A voice came out of nowhere. At first I thought I was hallucinating. The voice was inside my head.   
  
~Don't be scared,~ it was saying.  
  
~Don't be scared?~ I thought. ~Hah! You loose in that department pal, I'm scared shitless and have been since we first set foot in these woods.~  
  
~Don't be afraid,~ the voice continued. It was surprisingly gentle and seemed unnervingly convincing, and the more I listened as it told me not to be frightened, the more my fear seemed to seep away. My mind was completely numb.  
  
I felt nothing as the creature tore my throat out.   
  
* * *  
  
"You've been warned about this before Blaine, you can't just go attacking girls who come camping."  
  
The voice was unfamiliar. I didn't recognise it. I tried to sit up, but a hand pushed me down again. My vision was kind of blurry. Shapes and colours whirled before my eyes, seeming to take on no definition. My mind was a humming blank. I didn't remember anything except going to bed last night. I felt nothing too. No pain, no fear.   
No surprise as to why this was happening to me.  
  
What had happened to me? Where was I?   
  
"I know Isabella." A male voice. Quite young, a little older than teenage, probably early twenties. "But...I needed a companion. You have one. You picked yours out the way I did mine." That remark sounded kind of defensive. So it was my guess that this guy had done something and broken the rules.   
  
What rules?  
  
My vision was staring to clear now. I could make out two figures, one male, sitting on a chair by my bed. He was quite handsome, his hair dark blond, brown roots. Endlessly deep dark eyes, and a little smile pulling at his lips as he looked at me. A hand reached out to stroke my hair. I cringed away.  
  
The woman snickered a little. I didn't see what was so funny. The guy was giving her a furious glare. The woman looked a couple of years older than he did. And she had an aura of power and authority about her. Black hair cascaded down her back like a dark waterfall, and cold green eyes eyed me. Her face was pretty, her features delicate. The effect was spoiled by her expression. She was eyeing me as if she'd just found a fly in her Chardonnay.   
  
"You'll have to make sure she feeds once the moon's up," the woman said, turning away. Glancing around I saw a small window. The sky outside was grey. I couldn't tell what time of day it was. "You explain the rules, and make it very clear what happens if she breaks them." And the woman left.  
  
I shook my head, utterly confused. I was in a strange place with people who sounded out of their minds, and I wasn't screaming my head off? What the hell was wrong with me? This time when I tried to sit up, the guy didn't stop me.   
  
I looked at him, and he looked at me. He looked as if he were trying to decide how he should explain this all to me.   
  
"You can start at least by telling me who you are," I offered.   
  
He shrugged. "All right. My name is Blaine. I'm a werewolf."  
  
* * *  
  
  
  
  
  
  



	3. Part 3

I'd gone insane. It was the only explanation. Wither that or I was having a nightmare. One so vivid I couldn't tell dream from reality. Any minute now Amber or Rick would wake me up, really wake me, and then we'd all go home and never set foot in woods again. There was not a cute guy opposite me telling me he was a werewolf.   
Werewolves were not real. They were stories. Myths. Legends. Next we'd get Big Foot coming in.   
  
"Okay," I said slowly.   
  
He smiled a little. "You don't believe me." It wasn't a question.   
  
I groaned again. I didn't know how to describe the feeling inside me. It was a   
gnawing in my stomach, like hunger, but something much, much stronger. I wanted something to eat, but I wasn't sure what. Somehow, I knew that ordinary food and drink would do nothing for me. I wasn't sure how I knew this, I just...knew it.  
  
"So, you're a werewolf," I said finally. What else could I say? I could actually think of plenty of things, but when there was a werewolf in the room with you, it probably wasn't wise to say the things I was thinking. But then again...I wondered if maybe I should, then I could see the reaction, and make sure I wasn't completely losing it.   
He stood up and walked over to the window. He seemed to stay there for a long time, gazing outwards, at what, I couldn't tell.   
  
Well, if he didn't want to tell me what the hell was going on, fine. I guess I'd have to find out on my own. I got out the bed. Glancing down I saw I wasn't wearing my clothes. I was dressed in a black polo neck and dark jeans. I saw boots on the floor by the bed, my size. Someone had prepared for me.   
  
I caught sight of myself in a mirror. I had changed. The difference was quite noticeable. My skin, normally quite pale, was now milky white, my features exquisite and delicate. My hair was shinier, beautiful, like the other woman's had been, the blue streaks were clearer. I looked much, much prettier.   
  
I wondered how I was going to explain this to everyone else. They were all probably wondering where I'd gotten myself too.   
  
I didn't say a word as I turned towards the door.   
  
"Seraphin - wait," the guy called. "There are things you need to know - "  
  
I turned and gave him by best glare. Which to a werewolf was probably about as scary as a fluffy bunny with boo painted on its nose. But I didn't care right then. I turned and walked away, leaving him staring after me.  
  
Something was telling me I was going to be seeing him again in the very near future.  
* * *  
  
Slowly, I made my way out of the building. I made my way down a dark and dusty corridor. There were no lights that I could see, and close doors like eyes looked blankly back at me as I passed, trying not to shudder.   
  
I spied a staircase and hurried down it. I could see figures downstairs, dark figures, moving amongst the shadows. I wasn't sure why I could suddenly see well in the dark. The hell with it, I wasn't concerned about that now. All I wanted was to get out of here and get home.   
  
The people in the room turned and saw me, and conversation hushed. The room was deathly silent, like the grave. I looked at them, and they looked back at me. One thing I noticed about them, they were all absolutely stunning, physically perfect.   
  
A physically perfect pack of werewolves? What the hell was going on here? And why did I get thrown into the deep end?   
  
When I moved forward, they parted to let me through. The same woman who'd been there when I'd woken was sitting in some sort of fancy, high backed, carved wooden chair. She didn't look too pleased to see me.   
  
"What is your problem?" I said finally, annoyed. "It's not like I asked for any of this."  
  
The woman looked utterly shocked. If the situation hadn't been so serious, the look on her face would have been funny. Everyone else looked shocked too. I guessed this woman was important amongst these people, and nobody talked to her the way I just had.   
  
"I just want to get out of here," I said finally, tiredly, as if talking to a six-year-old.   
  
The woman stood, and moved in my direction, people got out her way.   
  
She took my arm and guided me out the room, and out the house. Her grasp was steel strong, and her fingers felt ice cold, even through the top I was wearing. When we reached the door of the house, she didn't let go, she just looked at me for a long time.  
  
"You're in over your head, girl."  
  
Just what I was thinking.   
  
* * *  
  
I looked at the woman. I sighed, "Look, I'm sorry if I offended you, I realise you're obviously someone important I just don't know what's going on."  
  
Her eyebrows raised. "I thought Blaine was supposed to explain things to you."  
  
"I wouldn't listen," I admitted. "I got pissed and stormed off."  
  
The woman sighed. "He's an idiot. I've warned him about this countless times. Maybe he just feels left out since he's the youngest of the clan and doesn't have a partner like the rest." She let go of my arm before continuing. "My name is Isabella. I am the leader of the pack. As soon as the full moon rises you will change and feed. You change at every full moon, three times a month. Silver bullets, knives will harm you. We meet here once every two months or so. The next meeting is a week Sunday. You will be expected to attend, if you're not there, we'll come and get you."  
  
I wasn't sure what I was supposed to say. "Is there any way out of this?" I asked.   
  
"Not as far as I know. There are advantages." Isabella's lip curled. "We are immortal. We are stronger than humans, are senses are expanded, we're faster, and nothing else except silver and fire will hurt us." She didn't bother saying good-bye, or directing me as to where to go from here.   
  
Charming, I thought. I glanced up at the sky. Dull grey clouds blanketed the sky, and the smell of rain hung in the air. There would be a storm soon, I could almost hear the crackle of lightning getting ready to strike.   
  
The trees were tall, leafless, stretching up like skeletons pointing to the empty sky. Everything seemed close fitting and tightly packed in, and I was still lost. I could wander around here for days and never get out.   
  
I glanced back at the house I had just been in. Large and spooky in the eerie lighting, it stood there, seeming deserted. If anyone passed now, they would think the house was deserted. Of course, who would ever believe there was a pack of werewolves living there?  
  
I was still finding it hard to believe myself. It looked like I had no choice but to deal with this. There was a road in front of the house, leading into the woods. I guessed my best bet would be following it.   
  
* * *  
  
I trudged down the deserted road for what I guessed seemed like two hours. As I walked endlessly, the sky grew darker and the woods grew colder. It looked as if I was going to be spending another night here. God, no, anything but that,. I didn't want to be alone, out here in the pitch-blackness that had been there the other night.  
  
I could see a faint twinkling in the sky. The clouds had cleared, and an expanse of midnight blue had been revealed overhead. The moon would be up soon. Full as well.  
Would I really change? Shift into a...wolf? It seemed impossible, and I was dreading to think would it would be like. What did werewolves have to eat to survive anyway? Vampires had to drink blood. I knew that from my obsession with the supernatural. Werewolves had never been my favourite shapeshifters to focus on, vampires had always been my personal obsession. Don't ask my why, I have no idea. The idea of being young and beautiful and living forever had always seemed enticing, to belong to worlds of darkness and shadows and power...  
  
And here's the ironic thing...I was really a part of that world now, not as a vampire, but as a...werewolf. I was still finding it so hard to believe. To be completely honest, I still didn't believe it. It felt as if this was just one really bad nightmare. I'd wake up soon, and laugh at myself for ever thinking such insane things could ever happen.   
  
I heard something. A shout. It sounded like a voice. I could see red and blue revolving lights through the dimness and the trees. I could see beams of white lights shining, flashlights, and people were calling out. Calling my name, shouting to each other.   
Police officers. I started running towards them, shouting. But as I ran, I saw something that made me freeze. For some reason, I glanced up at the sky, as if raising my head to the heavens and giving thanks that I was safe, and I saw the moon was up, round and glowing and full.   
  
And something was happening to me. I could feel my muscles and skin rippling, and it hurt. I fell to my knees, stretching myself out, anything to relieve myself of this agony. I looked at my hands, spread out on the dirt floor around me. My they were changing, I held my arms up in front of my face, staring with horror. The black clothing was changing to fur...black fur was spreading over my body, and my hands were no longer hands but paws...my legs had shrunk considerably, my body was now that of an animal, and I could feel my face changing now. I opened my mouth and screamed...but it wasn't a scream...it was a howl.   
  
I wasn't Seraphin the person anymore.   
  
I was Seraphin the wolf.   
  
* * *  
  
I could smell the reek of human flesh coming closer now. A voice was shouting.   
  
"Hey! Hear something over here...oh shit. You guys get here now!" The police officer shone his flashlight in my eyes. I snarled at him, angry.   
  
He remained where he was standing, frozen. Before anyone else could get there, I leaped at him, slashing out with my claws, tearing his face open. There was something inside him that I needed more than he did. Internal organs, I remembered, from the books I'd read.   
  
I sat on top of the officer, my paws scrambling around inside his gut, making a wonderful mess as I dug my muzzle in and just ate whatever organs I could find. It would have to do for now. Until something suddenly hit me in the hind leg, causing a blinding flash of pain and I howled again with rage, truing and springing, knocking the gun out the police officer's hand.  
  
Before I could do anything about it, something even more bizarre seemed to happen. There was another wolf there defending me. And all I could think as these strange things were going on, was that Isabella was right. I was in way over my head.  
  
~Come on, let's get out of here~. Blaine's voice In my head. ~Just follow me and I'll get you out of here.~ The wolf turned and looked at me, glowing yellow eyes meeting mine. ~Trust me, please~, he said.   
  
I decided I really had no choice. I followed him into the thickness of the woods. It seemed he was leading me deeper into them than out, and I could see more blue figures and string white lights enter the clearing where we'd just been. I heard the exclamations of shock and horror.   
  
I realised we must be going to long way round to get out of this. I didn't want to know how the police would react to idea of two werewolves walking right to the middle of the scene. Finally, the wolf leading me stood up on its hind leg, and with a rippling movement, became Blaine.   
  
I was unsure what to do. I just followed him, standing as he had done, thinking I want to be a person again. The movements of my skin rippling, scraping across the bones, so painful, it hurt so much...  
  
But then, the pain faded, and I realised I was me again. I ran my hands over my body, and realised I was a solid human shape anymore. I may have a human shape, and it was then it struck me, that no matter how human I appeared to be, I just wasn't. I was a werewolf. It was all real, and it was all true, and it was really happening to me.   
I fell to my knees, and began to sob. Blaine came and knelt beside, sliding an arm around my shoulders. I just let him hold m, gratefully accepting the comfort. Nothing had ever felt so warm. For some reason I couldn't seem to describe, I felt safe with him, I knew I could trust him. He hadn't meant to hurt me.   
  
"Let's get you out of here," he said softly. He led me a few paces forwards, out of the trees, and into a small clearing, full of police officers and towns people, obviously coming to look for me.   
  
My mind was still somewhat of a blur, and I wasn't really sure what happened for the next few hours, just letting other people guide me and look after me. I guess I must have been in some sort of shock. Well, after what I'd been through, who wouldn't be?   
  
Blaine did a lot of the talking, and somehow, he managed to make everyone believe him, and everyone was grateful to him for saving me.   
  
At long last, I was home, home and safe and warm in my own bed, what I'd been longing for for the past...who knew how long? I was asleep the minute my head hit the pillow. If I dreamed, I didn't remember anything when I woke.   
  
* * *   
  



	4. Part 4

Something hurt. Then when I opened my eyes, I realised what. Everything. All my muscles were sore and screamed in protests when I tried to move. The intense pain caused me to cry out.   
  
"You'll get used to it, the first change is always painful; it gets easier." Blaine's voice. Obviously he hadn't gone home.   
  
"Like sex," I muttered. What had possessed me to say that? What was the matter with me?   
  
"Huh?" He sounded a little confused.   
  
"Sex is always painful the first time, or at least afterwards, for girls, anyway, and then it gets easier and more enjoyable." I had to deal with being a werewolf, and I was talking about sex, to a guy I hardly knew. Oh God, what must he be thinking?   
  
I glanced over at him. He was wearing a blue plaid shirt and jeans. His clothes had changed, and I wondered vaguely whose they were. He had saved me, but he was also responsible for what had happened. I wasn't sure how to feel towards him. Part of me hated his guts, was silently screaming at him in anger about how he could have ruined me like this. Part of me was just thinking, god he's gorgeous. And he picked me.   
  
What about my friends? Would I tell them? Would they believe it? No, probably not. What was I supposed to say to them? Amber was going to be in a hell of a lot of trouble. Going into the woods was her idea, and I'd suffered terribly because of it.   
  
Okay, maybe I was over exaggerating a little, but I was still pissed.   
  
My mom knocked on the door then, before I could say anything else. She stuck her head round. "Your friends are here to see you."  
  
I groaned again. I didn't really feel like talking to anyone, I felt like curling up and dying. But...hadn't Isabella said werewolves were immortal? In that case, then I was never going to die. Never. I wasn't sure if the thought thrilled me or terrified me.   
"Send 'em up, I guess."  
  
I glanced over at Blaine. He turned to leave. I wasn't sure why I felt a twinge of disappointment. This was all his fault. I wanted him to stay, and yet at the same time, I wished I'd never laid eyes on him. Why couldn't I make up my mind how I felt about him?  
  
Mom left. Blaine hesitated for a minute. "Don't forget. It's a full moon tonight.   
You're going to change again. And you'll need to feed." And then he left.   
  
Damn. I'd forgotten about that. I glanced out the window. Pink and orange clouds were gathering in the sky, a rosy glow beginning in the west as the sun began to set. It would be dark soon. Unless I wanted to slaughter everyone in the house, I had to think of a way to get out. What was I supposed to do. Tell my parents, "By the way, I'm a werewolf now, and since it's a full moon I just have to run and eat a few people. I won't be back too late."  
  
I could just see the looks on their faces.   
  
"You're mad, aren't you?" Amber was peeking cautiously around the door. Her eyes were red-rimmed, her cheeks puffy, as if she'd been crying a lot. Good. At least she felt some guilt.   
  
"Yes, I'm mad."  
  
She came in then, followed by Jesse and Rick, complete with flowers and candy. How cute. Maybe I'd forgive them.   
  
"Who was the guy on the stairs?" Rick asked suspiciously.   
  
Shit. I'd completely forgotten about him. How was I going to explain Blaine to everyone? Without saying he was the werewolf who decided to bring me into his pack.   
  
"He was the guy who found me and brought me home," I said, not bothering to sit up. I hurt too much and they weren't worth the effort. I was mad at them.   
  
"What happened to you?" Amber asked. "We searched for a week!"  
  
A week? I'd really been gone that long? "I left the tent to take a piss and got lost in the dark." The truth, but not quite the whole truth.   
  
"We thought the monster had gotten you," Jesse said seriously.  
  
I turned to look at him. "What monster?"  
  
They exchanged glances. "Four people were found in the woods completely mauled to death as if by giant dogs. Two police officers and a couple of other campers."  
I wasn't exactly sure what to make of that. I knew I was responsible for the cops, but the other campers? That hadn't been me. No way.   
  
Not me.   
  
But my memory of the last week was still completely blurred. What if I done it, and just didn't know it? Were my finger prints all over the bodies? What was the penalty for werewolf kills? Life?   
  
I didn't know. I was being ridiculous. Just a coincidence, that's all.   
  
"I guess nobody knows what did it?" I asked finally. I watched them shake their heads. They just looked at me, obviously knowing there was something I wasn't telling them. What could I say without sounding inside.   
  
I turned my face away from them, rolling over and pulling the covers over my head.   
  
"Just leave me alone," I muttered.   
  
I hid under the bed covers waiting for them to go. After a few minutes I heard the door shutting. My life had become a walking nightmare. What had I done to deserve it?   
  
Nothing was going to be the same again.   
  
I had no choice but to learn to deal with this.   
  
So far, I was failing miserably.   
  
* * *  
  
Darkness was slowly spreading over the sky, the rosy pink and orange changing to dark blue to grey to black. Stars peeked out from where the clouds parted in the midnight blue sky. The moon would be up soon.   
  
What was I going to do? I had no choice. I didn't want to change in the house? What if I went crazy and ate everybody? I shuddered at the thought. This was a disaster.   
  
Was there any way out of this? Maybe I'd look when I felt a bit better.   
  
I dragged myself out of bed, wondering how I was going to get out the house. A long hot shower took a way some of the aching. How many days was the moon full? Three? And this was *every* month?  
  
I dressed in a black sweater and black jeans. With my hair darker now, glancing in the mirror I looked like the essence of darkness itself. Great.   
  
My window overlooked the front yard, not a great window to climb out of. My muscles screamed a protest as I started to move, but I ignored the pain, I had no choice. I stuck my head out the door. I could her my mother's voice down the hall.   
  
"...she's still asleep, she can't come to the phone right now."  
  
Yet another person calling to see how I was. I was so miserable I hadn't felt like talking to anyone. How could I explain what happened to them when I couldn't even explain it to myself?   
  
I turned back to my room quickly, stuffing some clothes in a person-like shape under the blankets. Old, I know. But I didn't have any better ideas.   
  
I slipped out into the dark hall, and opened the door to the spare bedroom. This window overlooked the backyard and there was a convenient drainpipe right beside it.   
  
I'd never done anything like this before, normally I just walked in all hours of the night not caring who yelled. But, this time, the situation was different.   
  
The decent was slow and painful, my fear of heights was not helping now. I couldn't help the huge rush of relief I felt when I finally hit the ground. I moved stealthily through the darkness to the back gate where I let myself out. Okay. What now?  
  
I glanced up at the sky. Clouds blanketed the stars, blotting out the moon. So I was safe from now. I needed to get away from the residential area, somewhere where there was no people for me to eat. But how else would I stem the hunger I could feel seeping over me?   
  
Animals, maybe. But that meant going back into the woods. I made a face at the thought. Ick.   
  
Footsteps sounded in a shadow beside me. I looked around as a familiar figure caught my eye. Blaine stood in the darkness, a little smile pulling at the corners of his lips.   
  
"Oh no. Not you again." How was I supposed to avoid this guy if he kept showing up at every turn or corner?   
  
"Who else are you going to learn from?" He had a point.   
  
"You're the expert," I said. When he gestured forward, I had no option but to follow him.   
  
Where he was taking me, I didn't know. It occurred to me then that I didn't know a lot.   
* * *  
  
  
The next morning the sun was far too bright. I winced, waking as the alarm went off. I would have liked an extra few days in bed, but my mom thought the best idea for getting over tragic events was getting on with life as it came and went.   
  
My muscles were all sore and aching from last night's hunt. Blaine had taken me back to the woods he'd found me in, and taught me how to shift and hunt. It wasn't getting any easier, and still hurt like hell.   
  
My mind was still fairly cloudy...it was like that after every shift, I tended not to remember what happened during, and at the moment, that was just fine with me.  
  
As I dressed for school I realised I was dreading it. Normally, school didn't bother me all that much, but today...everyone's eyes would be on me. Everyone must know I had been missing for almost a week...  
  
And I still hadn't figured what the hell I was going to tell them all. Oh, it's just a little thing, we went camping at the weekend...but here's the funny thing...this really cute guy who turned out to be a werewolf took a liking to me and decided to make me one...  
  
That statement would be most likely to get me my very own padded room and straight jacket. What fun. (Gag).   
  
I sighed with impatience. God, what a nightmare. I was going to have missed so much work. It was going to take me forever to catch up. My parents wouldn't let me out for months...  
  
The entire situation then struck me as rather comical. Here I was...having just been turned into a werewolf and discovered a whole underground society of not only werewolves...but vampires, witched, other shifters...they called it Night World.   
  
Blaine had explained all this to me when I'd finally gotten to grips with myself last night, about the history, these stupid laws. I still just couldn't believe it.  
  
Why couldn't some nice sexy vampire have come and seduced me instead? That would have been so much more fun. Instead of a sexy vampire I got a fairly sexy werewolf. Lucky me.   
  
I grabbed by bag and headed downstairs. My family took at least ten minutes fussing over me. The first thing that struck me as I headed into the kitchen was hundreds of mingling smells...and I could identify almost every single one.  
  
Not a pleasant thought. They smelled different than Blaine did...so poignantly human. They just sat their eating breakfast, my little brother talking about his Little League game on Saturday afternoon, my dad moaning about Congress being idiots, my mom burning the toast and the bacon.  
  
They were human...and I wasn't. And that...hurt. I saw them exchanging glances, looking at me. I wasn't normally this quiet and pensive. What could I say? I had a lot on my mind.   
  
My eyes scanned over the headlines on the front page of the paper Dad was looking at...MAULED IN WOODS caught my eye.   
  
"Hey, can I have that?" Before my dad could do anything I'd taken the paper out his hand. PEOPLE FOUND MAULED IN WOODS. I stared in horror as I read the article about two people who had been hunting in the woods late last night, illegally, I might add, and they had been found ripped to pieces.  
  
My hands were starting to shake. Could I have...no. No. No. I was barely getting the hang of killing animals...Night World law said shifter kills were only restricted to animals...Unless Pack laws were different...  
  
"Seraphin?" my mom was asking faintly. "Honey, maybe you should go back to bed. A day..."  
  
Before she could finish the blare of a car horn sounded outside. My escape. "That's Rick. I gotta go, I'll be fine." And I hurried out before anyone could stop me.   
  
Rick was waiting for me outside, he smiled faintly as I got in. I didn't kiss him like I usually did. I wondered why. Blaine's face flashed in my mind and I shook him away. Rick looked a little hurt and drove off.  
  
"Feeling better?" he asked.   
  
I nodded. "Yeah." A lie, but he didn't really need to know that.   
  
My mind was returning to those people found in the woods. I couldn't have, I kept telling myself. Not me. No way. Never. But I didn't know what I did when I shifted. Animals didn't have human thoughts...or Blaine had said something along those lines.  
  
As I got to school it was the nightmare I had thought it was. People were looking at me and whispering as I walked by, everyone asking if I was okay, what happened, I was getting pretty sick of it by the time I got to my first class.  
  
My temper was short at the best of times and this wasn't helping in the slightest. But what was worse then the stares and whispering...  
  
A scent of flesh...human flesh and blood...thing inside them that I needed more than they did...  
  
I was starting to panic. I had only fed last night, the final night of the full moon. I didn't have to feed again until it came up in another twenty-eight days.   
  
What would happen if I couldn't control myself? I didn't want to know.  
  
* * *  
  
  



	5. Part 5

As I sat in class all I could concentrate on was the smell of blood in the people around me. It was rather disturbing, when I thought about it, I had read about the whole vampire blood lust thing and it had fascinated me. But now I was actually experiencing it...well, maybe not a vampire blood lust...  
  
Was this how vampires felt? I didn't know. I wasn't sure if I wanted to. The whole thing was starting to lose it's appeal to me now. I could see Rick eyeing me from his seat beside me.  
  
I felt kind of bad about the way I was treating him. I had spent most of the day avoiding him, and all of my friends. I was too afraid that I wouldn't be able to control myself and hurt them.  
  
I didn't understand it. Blaine had told me we only needed to feed once a month, during the three days of the full moon. I had fed last night.   
  
My thoughts returned to those...no. I wouldn't think about that. I had nothing to do with it. I was absolutely sure. Sure. Sure. Sure. Wasn't me. No way. No way.  
  
I had bee telling myself this all day. But still...a knot of dread was pulling deep inside me, making my stomach feel as if there was a grinding stone inside it.   
  
There was always the slightest chance. I was the newest member of the Pack. I hadn't learned to control myself and my powers properly yet. But that brought me to the thought...there were others werewolves out there.   
  
Maybe they had done it and were making me think that I'd done. I just didn't know.   
  
I wanted to crawl up in bed and never come out. Maybe that wouldn't be such a bad idea if I could convince Blaine to come and stay with me.   
  
A glance at Rick and I felt guilty all over again. What was I going to tell him? I was going to have to think of a reasonable excuse to dump him.  
  
But how could I do that? Was Blaine really worth it? I still wasn't sure if I loved him or hated him. He was cute, that was all I knew, but was that enough?  
  
"In case you hadn't notice, the bell went about ten minutes ago, Dreamy."  
  
I blinked, surprised at the sudden sound of Amber's voice beside me. I looked around, seeing the classroom was empty. I really mustn't let myself get so deep in thought like that. I stood up, flushing, gathering my things quickly.   
  
Amber watched me, a frown on her face. "Seraphin, why don't you tell me what really happened? What's been bugging you."  
  
  
I studied her thoughtfully. Could I tell her? Blaine had said that any human who found out about Night World secrets had to die. But Amber was my friend. She wasn't the type to go around blabbing to everyone. I could trust her, couldn't I?  
  
"All right," I said finally. "But we can't talk here." We left the high school. Despite the fact it was September, the sun was still bright, and yet, I couldn't feel its warmth at all. Werewolves didn't have body temperature? I knew that was the case for vamps, but I hadn't known it was that way for 'wolves.   
  
We went to a secluded little coffee shop called the Black Dahlia that Amber liked. After we'd ordered iced coffees, I took a deep breath, and told her everything that had happened from getting up in the middle of the night to being bitten by a werewolf, and finally realising I was one myself.   
  
"You're a werewolf?" Amber asked, head tilted. She was taking all this in quite well.   
  
I nodded miserably. "It's all Blaine's fault," I said moodily. "He bit me. I didn't ask to be one."  
  
"The Pack can't have been happy," Amber commented dryly.  
  
I studied her. She knew about the Pack? Was she a wolf? "How do you know?"  
  
"I'm a witch," Amber said simply. She showed me her right hand with her silver ring with a black dahlia on, like the one on the sign for the café. Come to think of it, that wasn't really such a surprise. "There aren't many other Night People here. Most of them are the wolves from the Pack, who supposedly have their hide out in the woods. I guess I should have thought about that before I suggested camping."  
  
I glared, but didn't say anything. I didn't mention I had been in the Pack house. I wondered if she knew Isabella, who seemed to be the leader. If I remembered correctly, wasn't Alpha the correct term? Why they used Greek letters was beyond me.   
  
"So what are you going to do about the mysterious Blaine?" Amber asked with a smile. "Rick can't be too happy."  
  
I sighed heavily. "I haven't decided yet. Blaine's so infuriatingly obscure. He's cute, I have to admit that, but then again, so is Rick, and I've known Rick longer..."  
  
"The law says you can't love a human," Amber said softly. "The Night World officials will be outraged if they find out."  
  
I guess that didn't leave me with much of a choice. I thought about how I had always wanted to belong to the supernatural world. Now I had learned it was actually true, it looked like I'd gotten more than I'd bargained for.  
  
* * *   
  
By Friday, I was felt like I was going to punch anyone I came across who looked at me and whispered. I felt like standing in the middle of the football field during a game, or maybe during the assembly held that afternoon, a warning thing to be careful cause there was a psycho going round gutting people, and screaming at the top of my lungs "So I'm a fucking werewolf! Deal with it! It's not my fault!"  
  
But that was just going to get me killed. Sighing heavily, I was beginning to think that maybe that shouldn't be such a bad idea. Both Amber and Blaine had been lecturing me on Night World law and history all week, and especially what happened when you were naughty and did something the council didn't like.  
  
Blaine had explained to be privately that the Pack wasn't really part of Night World, it had its own laws and rules, but considering there were other shapeshifters hanging around, I might as well know the whole score.  
  
As I walked through the school halls I wondered how many other people were Night People. They were supposed to be brilliant and blending in and passing themselves off as normal humans, (no one had noticed anything remarkably different about me, well, apart from Rick, but I'll get to him in a minute) so I didn't know for sure. I couldn't tell just by looking. But I was told to identify them by black flowers.   
  
So far nothing spectacular had caught my eye.   
  
As for Rick...he'd noticed there was something different about me. I hardly spoke to him anymore, I didn't want him dead because of me. He'd gotten jealous and mad at me spending more time with Blaine, and sort of broken up with me. I guess I can't be too pissed at him, it's safer for him that way.  
  
When I reached my first class on Friday morning, I noticed more people than usual staring at me. Amber was in her usual seat, twisting a lock of red hair around a finger in an almost nervous gesture.   
  
"What?" I snapped, when someone else looked at me as I sat down.  
  
"You didn't hear?" the girl, whose name I didn't know, asked.  
  
I shook my head. "Hear what?"  
  
Amber looked up, seeing us, and came over. "Seraphin...don't you know?"  
  
I sighed with exasperation...forget punching, maybe I should eat somebody. That'd teach 'em a lesson for staring. I could feel my beat inside me, feel it start to stir at the mention of hunger. A sort of prickling heated sensation was running along my skin. I saw Amber look at me with a sort of shocked awe. Power. *My* power. She was only a witch, and she could feel it.  
  
I suppose I should be impressed, or smug, but at that moment, I didn't really feel either. Just irritated. "I don't know," I snapped again. "What the hell is going on?"  
  
  
"I can't believe no one told you," the nameless girl muttered, scurrying to her seat.  
  
I looked at Amber for an answer. Amber hesitated, then blurted out, "It's Rick. He's sort of...deadish..."  
  
I wasn't sure how I was supposed to react to that. Did she expect me to scream, cry, shout, yell who'd done this was going to be my late night snack? All I felt was vague surprise. "Rick's...deadish..." I got out through the lump forming in my throat. Where had that come from? "How?"  
  
"He was...eaten," Amber said softly. "By wild animals. He went into the woods again. Why, I don't know. They found him...or what was left of him...this morning."  
  
The surprise was slowly turning to dread. Somebody *ate* Rick? What had I been doing last night? I had been at home, I'd spent most of the night just lounging about doing nothing cause I was depressed and hungry...  
  
No. Oh no. No. I couldn't have...  
  
But last night wasn't a full moon. Werewolves could only change during a full moon, right?   
  
I sat through my morning classes, vaguely trying to pay attention to the teachers, but most of the time my mind was elsewhere. Why would I want to eat Rick? It just didn't make any sense.  
  
Hell, none of this made any sense. If it did, then maybe I wouldn't be whining so much.   
  
What had Blaine been doing last night? Picking off competition?  
  
That thought wasn't as shocking as I thought it might have been. Blaine had known I had something going with Rick. He had pulled me out the woods and bitten me so he could have a mate...  
  
Hmm...  
  
* * *  
  
I wondered where the hell I was supposed to even find Blaine to demand to know what the fuck he was playing at. What had happened to Rick had been bugging me all day. I knew it wasn't my fault. I was positive that this was one mauling that I hadn't done.  
  
When school was over Blaine was waiting for me by the entrance. I stared at him, not sure whether to be amused or angry. He just fixed me with one of his to-die-for smiles. I didn't know if I wanted to kiss him or punch him.   
  
He was one of the most infuriating, most confusing people I had ever met.   
  
"We need to talk," he said simply.   
  
I nodded. "I guess." I took him to the café where Amber and I had gone. I noticed a few people giving us strange looks as we walked in.   
  
"What's their problem?" I muttered.  
  
The girl behind the desk had locked eyes with Blaine. They seemed fixed in a stare out of pure hatred. I could almost feel something in the air, running along my skin, like a cool breeze.  
  
I looked at Blaine, stunned. His blue eyes had turned pure silver, and were shining like a searchlight. His face looked somewhat - different - scarier, older somehow.   
  
I'd never seen a display of power like this before. That's obviously what it must be. A display of power. The girl actually hissed like a cat, and turned away. When Blaine looked back at me his face had gone back to normal, only more smug.  
  
"What was that all about?" I asked as we headed to a table.  
  
"She's a vampire," he said dismissively. "Vampires don't tend to like werewolves much. She's pissed cause there are more wolves here than anything else."  
  
"The Pack," I said.   
  
He looked surprised. "Yeah."   
  
We sat down and looked at each other in silence for a few minutes. I knew there was something he wanted to say to me, but was looking as if he wasn't sure how to approach the subject.  
  
"Something to do with my boyfriend being eaten?" I suggested.  
  
He just looked at me, his expression blank. "What were you doing last night?" he asked.   
  
I shrugged. "Moping at home and feeling sorry for myself." I didn't mention to him about my lack of control over my shifting. Besides, I had convinced myself this wasn't my fault.  
  
"There's a difference between shapeshifters and werewolves," he said, drumming his fingers on the table. "Were-animals only shift during the full moon, while a shapeshifter can shift anytime. Of course, there's always the rare were-animal who can shift when they please, normally it's only the alphas that can do that."  
  
I was confused. "What's that got to do with me? I'm only new at this. I don't think I've managed alpha status yet."  
  
Blaine just gave me one of his irritatingly gorgeous smiles. "I was just saying. There's always exceptions."  
  
I snorted. I hadn't even mastered shifting completely during a full moon yet, let alone how to shift outside of one. It was hard enough as it was. "So what else can we do?" I asked him. "There's gotta be more than just changing shape and pissing off vampires with cute little power tricks."  
  
Blaine looked a little offended at that. "Cute little power trick?" he echoed. "That took years to perfect." He sighed and shook his head. "Well, we're stronger than humans, we can heal from anything but silver. The old silver bullet will kill us. There re some other things we can do with power, but it's kind of hard to explain." He frowned, trying to think how to put it into words. "The best way to deal with it is to just adapt as you go on."  
  
I sighed heavily. Great. I was afraid of that. "It's all just a little overwhelming."  
  
He moved closer to me and slipped an arm around my shoulders. "You'll get used to it."  
  
I moved to shrug him off, then changed my mind. I let him take me home, and finally gave in, letting him kiss me at the door to my house. A pleasant tingling feeling ran along my nerves, hot, like fire.   
  
"Don't forget," he said as he turned to leave. "Pack meeting this Sunday." I watched him drive off.  
  
I sighed again and went into the house. I'd forgotten about that. I wasn't looking forward to that.  
  
* * *  
  
On Sunday there was a pack meeting. A big black car had pulled up outside my house, beeping the horn insistently until I showed up. I could see my parents exchange glances. I couldn't exactly tell them I was off to meet with the local pack of werewolves, so I just told them Amber had gotten a new car and ran out before they could ask anymore questions.  
  
I couldn't actually tell them what was wrong. For starters, it was forbidden, and second, it was going to get everyone I told killed. And no one would believe me anyway.  
  
Blaine was sitting in the car, waiting for me. He was dressed entirely in black, which made his blond hair almost shimmer, his dark eyes were nearly glowing. He looked so *different* than normal.  
  
I hadn't known I was supposed to be all formal. I was just wearing jeans and a silver top. Well, next time I'd known. I waited for Blaine to say something, but he said nothing, just stared right ahead.  
  
Okay. Fine. I did *not* get this guy. One minute he was all cozy and flirty, next he was cold as a block of ice. He hadn't looked at me once.   
  
And this side of him was even scarier than when he'd stared down that vampire who had made smart remarks about 'wolves. There was a sense of Power, so strong it was like a breeze rolling off him, raising goosebumps along my skin.  
  
I was smart enough to keep my mouth shut. I felt a rumbling in my stomach. There wasn't another full moon for several weeks. But what did I have to eat in the mean time? I'd have to ask that when I got an opportunity.  
  
Finally, the car stopped, pulling up outside the mansion I'd woken up in. It still looked dark and creepy and deserted from first view. If anyone was just passing by you'd never know anyone was inside.  
  
Blaine got out the car after someone had come and opened the door. I could see someone coming to open my door. I wasn't incapable. I opened it myself and headed after Blaine. I could see some butler/servant type people who looked rather flustered. I ignored them.  
  
The silence was really starting to get to me now. I didn't like silence. I liked noise and company. Shame my company was as interesting as a block of wood right now. I'd get more response out of a brick wall than I was getting from him.  
  
We arrived in a sort of gathering room where a bunch of other people were standing in clustered. Most of them looked to be somewhere in their mind twenties, maybe early thirties at the oldest. I could only see about two people I could put at maybe eighteen/nineteen.  
  
They were all dressed in dark clothing as well, their eyes gleaming strangely in the gloom. The double doors at the end of the room opened and Isabella walked in. She was dressed in blue rather than black, her suit stood out against the darkness of the others, her hair was almost woven in gloom.  
  
"Let's get this over and done with." She took a seat on a sort of raised stage, the chair was almost like an elaborately carved wooden throne with a high curving back and long arms. Six other people came from two directions, three men, and three women. They took seats on less elaborate chairs beside Isabella.  
  
"Who are they?" I muttered to Blaine. "And how come Isabella gets to boss everyone around."  
  
Blaine smiled faintly for the first time that afternoon. "Isabella gets to push everyone about because she's the pack leader, our Alpha. The others are members of the Pack Council."  
  
"I'd take Richard over her any day," I muttered.   
  
Blaine gave me a sideways look. "What?"  
  
I shook my head dismissively. (Richard was a character from my favourite book series, Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter. He was an Alpha werewolf, and he sounded absolutely gorgeous.)   
  
"I thought there were supposed to be two alphas in wolf packs, male and female," I whispered to Blaine, ignoring Isabella as she went on blathering.  
  
"Generally there are," he whispered back. "Izzy's mate was killed a few weeks ago by a werewolf hunter. She hasn't picked a new male alpha yet."  
  
I didn't say anything. Izzy? She must love that nickname. I was still confused, and didn't understand half of what Isabella (Izzy) was going on about, I just wanted the meeting to be other with a get the hell out of there.  
  
"...victims mauled in the woods. Night World council reps from this area are generally tending to point the finger at us."  
  
That line got my attention. My suspicions and worries resurfaced, the terrifying thought that I couldn't control myself when I shifted.  
  
I could see several of the Council looking at me. My ego was bruised a little. I didn't do it. They had no proof that I had done it. "I didn't do it," I said stubbornly.  
  
"It takes at least from six months to a year for a new 'wolf to learn to control themselves," a council member said icily.  
  
"She's not a shapeshifter wolf," someone else said.  
  
I was confused. What was the difference between shapeshifters and werewolves?  
  
"She seems to be getting the hang of things," Blaine said, speaking up in my defence. Now I was starting to like him again. Oh, this stupid boy was so confusing!  
  
"What's the difference between shapeshifters and werewolves?" I asked.  
  
"Shapeshifters can shift whenever they like," Isabella explained. "Were-animals can shift only during the full moon."  
  
Oh. Well, I couldn't do that. At least, I was pretty certain I couldn't. Of course, I could always be wrong, a little voice inside was reminding me.   
  
I didn't remember what I did when I shifted. Maybe I wasn't getting the hang of it was Blaine seemed to believe.   
  
The meeting broke up shortly after that, but before I left someone from the council caught my arm, leaving me with a message.  
  
"We'll be watching you."  
  
* * *   
  
  



	6. Part 6

  
Another week went by with nothing much happening. Everything seemed to have gone back to normal now. The whispers had stopped. But for some reason I still wasn't satisfied.  
  
Just because the murders had stopped for now didn't mean they hadn't stopped all together. There was still someone out there who had killed three people, and not knowing what to do about it was driving me insane.  
  
Plus, in about another two weeks, there was another full moon. I was going to have to work up some good excuses for that. I was still noticing lots of changes in myself.   
  
For starters, gym was never as hard as it used to be. My energy never seemed to run out. I was stronger than the entire football team put together. (That was discovered totally by accident really, one of them pissed me off when he wouldn't stop hitting on me. So I literally hit him, and he fell out a two story window. Boy, was the coach livid.) I managed to avoid trouble in there when Amber came to my defence and brainwashed the jerk. Well, the first one had asked for it. I could heal quickly from any injury.   
  
But this psycho problem was still getting on my nerves. I knew the Pack Council were "watching me". Every time I turned around I kept expecting to see someone lurking in the shadows and staring at me.  
  
After school that day I decided to find Amber and see if she had any ideas on what to do. She hadn't been at school, and after I'd called her house, her mother told me she had gone into town.   
  
I was a little suspicious. What was she doing off if she wasn't sick? I spotted her car outside the black Dahlia. I also noticed Blaine's convertible too.   
  
And I was jealous, why? Blaine and I had been out a couple of times earlier on in the week, but nothing had really happened between us. I was starting to figure the Pack had just sent him to keep me out of trouble.  
  
But I hadn't *done* anything. I was sure I hadn't. Well - almost. Oh this was impossible. I pushed the door open and headed inside. I spotted Amber and Blaine at a secluded little table in a dark corner.   
  
Amber looked up and waved. I headed over, trying not to look too irritated. "Why weren't you in school?" I asked, sitting down.  
  
"I had Night World things to take care of," Amber said simply. "Circle business comes before school."  
  
"You look rather peeved," Blaine said, head tilted to one side. He was eyeing me as if nothing had happened, and I was the one out my mind. I didn't know whether to kiss him or kill him.   
  
Finally, I told them everything. Even though they probably knew what had happened, what we didn't know, was somehow, I felt certain it was all connected to me somehow.   
  
"So what do you want to do about it?" Amber asked.  
  
I shook my head. "I don't know," I said softly. Everything seemed to go back to the woods. That was where it had all started. It was easy to kill someone there, you were unlikely to be spotted. Whoever he - or she - was, they were likely to return to the scene of the crime.   
  
"I still think the answer is somewhere in the woods. There's got to be some sort of clue, or he's got a hideout there, it's just logical," I said finally.  
  
"But searching the woods would take forever!" Amber complained. My eyes rolled. For someone who loved hiking, why was she changing her mind now, when it came to actually going back?   
  
Blaine's fingers were drumming on the table top. If he kept it up, he was going to be to be the second person I threw out a window. "I could get a couple of the Pack to help us out. We know the woods."  
  
I was confused. "Why would they listen to you?"  
  
He looked at me evenly, but I could see a hint of annoyance. "I'm next in line for alpha male," he said simply. "I just need to keep in Isabella's good books."  
  
I just looked at him. He'd never mentioned this before. "You're not exactly one of Isabella's favourite people at the moment," I pointed out, smiling faintly.   
  
He glared at me. "I *know*. If we catch this murderer, she'll like us more."  
  
Always looking out for Number One. Men. Ugh. "That's all well and good for you, but what about *me*?"   
He just shrugged. "I'll be blunt. The Council think it's you because new wolves can't control themselves. If we get this psycho, it'll clear your name."  
  
I hated it when he was right. So we had a plan at last. And it looked like I would have to miss classes tomorrow. What a shame. Well, I thought, trying not to smirk too hard. Pack business comes first.   
  
We had a plan. At last. Now all we had to do was put it into action and hope we were successful.   
  
Something was telling me I wasn't going to like what we'd find.   
  
* * *  
  
The next morning as far as my parents were concerned I was playing the good daughter and heading off to school just like I was supposed to. If anything went wrong, Amber had promised me she could always brainwash them into thinking just that.  
  
Amber's car was waiting for me outside. We were heading off to the woods to hunt for clues in this psychotic murderer case. I was getting pretty sick of getting the blame for most things that had been going wrong lately.  
  
This was my chance to prove to everyone that they were all wrong. If only we could find something useful. Amber was unusually quieter than usual.   
  
My mind returned to the first time she had dragged us to the woods. And to think I had been worried about *The Blair Witch* coming to get us. There were worse monsters here than there were in Mary-Land.   
  
Then again, considering what I'd learned about the Night World, it made me wonder if there was a slight bit of truth to the ledged. There were witches, after all. One was driving the car I was sat in.  
  
I cut off the thought. Jeez, what was I thinking? I realised with a sinking feeling that I didn't really want to know what was hidden in the woods. I was trying to think of anything but that.  
  
But it was the only way I could get the suspicion off myself and on somebody else. And as long as no one thought of me as a murderer, that was all that mattered, really.   
  
Blaine was supposed to be meeting us at the entrance to the woods with a couple of other Pack members. He was stood by his car, waiting for me. There were three other people with him. To my annoyance I noticed they were all girls.   
  
I couldn't distract myself with brooding over Blaine, right now. I had other things I needed to focus on. A task to complete, and hopefully some results to find.   
  
Blaine nodded at us. Then at the three girls. "This is Elizabeth, Diana and Sharla. That's Seraphin and Amber. They're going to help us do the hunting. We'll be better off doing this search individually; the more of us there are spread out, the better. We can keep I touch with our telepathy."   
  
I didn't like the idea of him suddenly taking charge. This whole thing had been my idea. Just because he was higher up in Pack ranks than I was he thought he had the right to be in charge of everything?  
  
I watched the three other girls heading off into the woods, like good soldiers. Amber and Blaine were standing close together, talking softly.   
  
I shook off thoughts of jealous and headed out into the surrounding forest myself. I tried to think where the first body had been found. But how the hell was I supposed to know that?  
  
Maybe I would have more luck if I shifted to search. But Blaine had said that werewolves could only shift during the full moon. So that put a damper on that idea.  
  
I sighed heavily. This wasn't really getting anywhere. What if I tried to look nearer the Pack mansion?   
  
Before I could get very far I heard the sound of gunshots. Loud like bombs exploding, and near by. A piercing scream shot through the air.  
  
The scream sounded familiar.  
  
Then I realised why.  
  
They were coming from Amber.  
  
* * *  



	7. Part 7

The screams echoed in my ear, chilling me to the bone. All I could think of was getting to Amber, and *killing* whoever was hurting her. Fuelled by determination I turned around and hurtled back the way I'd come.   
  
Everything was passing by me in a blur, but one patch of woods looked just like another one. Not again. I was damn sick of this place and would be happy if I never had to come here again.  
  
All I knew was I was running, and I needed to find my friend. Amber wasn't a coward. She wasn't as dense as she seemed, sometimes. But she wasn't a fighter, I knew that.  
  
But I was. And *no one* hurt my best friend and lived to tell. I stopped, trying to get my bearings. I was slightly impressed to notice that I wasn't the slightest bit out of breath.  
  
I spotted a silvery blonde head standing out amongst the trees. "Blaine!"  
  
He turned around, looking at me. He was just stood there, hands in his pockets, as if the piercing shrieks had no effect on him at all. What the hell was *with* this guy.  
  
"Can you not *hear* that?" I shouted at him. "That's Amber! Why aren't you doing something?"  
  
He just smiled at me strangely. "Amber can handle herself." He laughed, as if at a private joke. I stared at him in utter disbelief. What was going *on*?  
  
Movement in my peripheral vision caught my attention. A glow of something yellow that didn't fit in amongst the dull browns and greens of the tightly packed trees.  
  
Eyes. From a werewolf. The minute it knew I had seen it, it took off. Before I knew what I was doing I was chasing after it.  
  
"Seraphin!" Blaine shouted after me, but I ignored him. Screw him. This wolf held the answers. It was a Pack member. I didn't know how I knew that, I just knew.   
  
And I also knew, that if I caught it, it would all be over. He - or she - was the one responsible for what had happened. I vaguely noticed that the screams had stopped.  
  
But I wasn't focusing on that. My mind was fixed on getting to that 'wolf. Something strange was happening to me.   
  
I was shifting.   
  
My muscles were flowing, changing, my hands were thumping down on the ground as paws, my legs were changing, my body compressing. A snarl came out of my animal throat as I hurled myself forward.  
  
The other 'wolf had stopped and was staring at me. If it had been human, I would have said it's expression was one of utter disbelief.  
  
I launched myself at it, claws spring out, lashing into it's back, teeth digging into the flash. It howled in rage and pain, but it wasn't fighting me.  
  
Then I realised why.  
  
It was afraid of me. More than afraid. *Terrified.* It clearly realised that I was dominant, and they weren't. I had done something I shouldn't have been able to. I had shifted and it wasn't a full moon. Hell, it wasn't even dark yet.   
  
My paws slipped on the mass of blood pouring out the wounds I'd made on the 'wolf. I moved back, watching as it became human again. I wasn't all that surprised when I saw who it was.  
  
I shifted back to my own human form. I just looked at her, my arms folded across my chest. I stood there with an aura of dignity and power surrounding me.  
  
My lips curved in a grim smile. The 'wolf didn't smile at all.  
  
"Sorry, Isabella. Game over."  
  
* * *  
  
Isabella just glared at me. There was an ugly gash in her leg, pumping blood. I couldn't have really cared if she bled to death. Looking around I could see three more bodies.   
  
The volunteers who'd offered to help us find clues as to who the murderer might be. Well, it looked as if the mystery had been solved. Isabella could clearly see the bodies too.  
  
"I - "  
  
"Yeah, yeah, yeah, you would have gotten away with it too, if it hadn't been for us meddling kids," I snorted. I know it was petty, but it seemed kind of appropriate.   
  
These bodies hadn't been mauled like the other ones had. They had all been shot in the heads. "What'd you kill them with, silver bullets?"  
  
Isabella glared at me. She opened her mouth to speak, then stopped. She was looking at me, her expression somewhere between awe and fear.  
  
I didn't understand it myself. There was a sense of - something - hovering in the air. Power. Once I had identified it I could feel it running along my skin, raising the fine hairs on my arms and the back of my neck.  
  
Wherever it was coming from, Isabella was *scared*. I vaguely noticed that the gash in her leg had healed. She hadn't gotten to her feet. She was keeping her distance from me.  
  
Then I realised why. The Power was coming from *me*. I didn't know I could do that. Then I realised what it was. I had shifted and it wasn't a full moon. I wasn't a shapeshifter, I was a werewolf. Were animals supposedly could only shift during the full moon, and yet...  
  
Isabella glared. "You are alpha. You are dominant."  
  
I was almost disappointed. I had been ready for a fight. I had wanted to kick her ass for what she had put me through, making me think that I was the one who had been doing this.  
  
It was all coming clear now. Isabella had been angry and jealous when Blaine had pulled me out the woods and changed me. She must have seen I had power and needed to do something about it.  
  
She had been the pack alpha, and didn't want competition from someone like me, someone younger than she was as well. And prettier. So she had started slaughtering people.  
  
She would know new 'wolves were confused, not sure about what happened while they were shifting, and that they would be easily rattled. The other council members would also suspect them.   
  
I had been the easiest target. But unfortunately for Isabella, I had been stronger than she had suspected, and I had caught her.  
  
A glow of triumph was starting to wash through me. I couldn't help being smug. Isabella was slowly getting to her feet. "I can't believe I didn't figure this out earlier," she snorted. "I didn't know you were this stupid."  
  
Isabella laughed shortly, the sound ragged and harsh. "You think you're so smart, don't you? Think you've got it all figured out." She sneered at me, clearly not liking the fact that I outranked her.   
  
I matched her sneer. "So enlighten me then."  
  
"I didn't do this," Isabella snapped at me. "Why would I murder my own pack? Unlike some people, I have honour, decency. I respect all Pack members, even the ones I don't like." She threw another glare at me.   
  
I snorted. "How touching. Then explain why you were in wolf form near the bodies."  
  
Isabella's eyes rolled. "I was hunting. I can show you the carcass if you like. I heard screams, came to investigate and you started chasing me."  
  
I frowned, wondering whether to believe her or not. I liked my scenario better than her explanation. I frowned. "If you didn't shoot them, then who did?"  
  
The click of a gun sounded behind me. Isabella and I turned around to find ourselves facing Blaine and Amber. Amber was holding a shot gun, and pointing it at us. "Silver bullets really do kill your kind, you know," Amber said.   
  
Blaine gave me a stunning smile. "To answer your question in reference to who shot them, we did."  
  
* * *  
  
I stared at Blaine, in utter disbelief. I had *known* there was something not quite right about him, but I had never imagined anything like this. I stared at Amber, smirking as smugly as Blaine.  
  
"You guys are in on this together?" I asked.   
  
Amber shrugged. "Sure. Only werewolf I know who *isn't* stupid."  
  
Under other circumstances, I would have hit her, but considering she had a gun, loaded with silver bullets, I didn't move, just glared helplessly. "You were my friend, I trusted you," I snapped.  
  
Amber just shrugged again. "You were just a by product to get me into a little bit of extra pocket money."  
  
My eyebrows raised and I looked over at Blaine. "What?"  
  
Then I finally got it. This whole thing had been one big set up. The camping trip, luring me out into the woods where Blaine could come and get me, biting me and changing me.  
  
"Why?" I asked finally, not sure what else to say.   
  
Blaine reached out to touch me lightly, running his fingers through my long dark locks. "You're my lupa - mate."  
  
My eyes rolled and I shook my head. Anita Blake, eat your heart out. This was starting to sound extremely pathetic.   
  
"Why her?" Isabella asked, slightly disgusted. "So you want a lupa, big deal." Her arms folded across her ample chest. "You have to be alpha to have a lupa. You're only just beta."  
  
Blaine glared at her. "I *should* be alpha!" he hissed. The power that came streaming out from him sent all my fine hairs standing on end. That was *scary*.  
  
Glancing around, I tried to see if there was some way I could possibly escape. I could just knock Amber and Blaine down and run. But in the time it took for me to shift, they could shoot me.  
  
"I was stronger, smarter and twice as powerful as that asshole of an alpha of yours."  
  
Isabella was looking at him, realisation dawning on her face. "You killed him," she whispered. "You killed my Ralph."  
  
Blaine just smiled cruelly. "Yeah. Didn't take a lot of effort. Jerk. I could have taken over." He scowled again. "But *you* were in the way, and people were still loyal to you."  
  
Everything was starting to fall into place now. Thinking about this whole thing it was almost...petty. Male ego attacks. "You needed to destroy all the competition." And that was where Amber must have come in.   
  
He must have needed someone to supply the bullets and stuff, or visual spells to make it look like the killings of a new wolf. He must have seen me with her and decided he wanted me.   
  
Blaine had stopped pacing up and down now. He turned to Amber. "Now, take care of her."  
  
Amber raised the gun at Isabella. I didn't know why I cared about stopping this. I didn't like Isabella. But she was part of my Pack. I guess this was what Pack loyalty meant.   
  
"Don't do it," I said.  
  
Blaine hissed at me. He tried to fling his Power at me. I held my grounds, letting it wash over me like a cool wind. He stared at me, surprised. It was my turn to smirk.   
  
"I'm paying you a lot of money to take care of problems," Blaine snapped at Amber. "*Do* it."  
  
Amber was holding the gun up, hesitating. Looking from me to Blaine. Her eyes were confused.   
  
"You're better than this," I shouted at her. I had known Amber since we were about three. We had always been bets friend, and I knew my best friend would never voluntarily kill people. "He's controlling you!"  
  
Blaine lunged forward, hurling himself at me, knocking me off balance. Pinning me to the ground with one hand...An animal light shone in his green eyes.   
  
I tried to throw him off, gathering all the Power I had, kneeing him in the groin. He was trying to knock me out with his Power, but not doing much of a job.   
  
I spat at him. He lifted a hand, but before he could hit me, a loud shot rang out, and he collapsed on top of me. Amber was looking at him, confused.   
  
I pushed the body off me and stood up slowly. Isabella and a couple of the other Pack members had come out of the mansion and were looking at me in awe.  
  
"What?" I asked.   
  
Isabella smiled faintly. "You're the new Pack leader."  
  
I wasn't sure if I was thrilled or not. This had been one of the weirdest days of my life.  
  
* * *  
  
Epilogue   
  
The police had been called and Amber had been taken away for some sort of psychiatric evaluation. I still couldn't believe than Blaine had been the psycho all along.   
  
I had trusted him, almost been falling in love with him. Love was a bitch. Isabella told me I needed to pick an Alpha male now. I wasn't exactly sure what I was going to do about that one.   
  
I'd had enough of alphas, lupas, and werewolf business now. But I was the new Pack leader, so I couldn't really turn by back on them.  
  
I knew they'd help me deal with my new powers. They'd teach me how to manage the Pack.   
  
And to think, I'd always thought this town was dull. Next time I wanted something interesting to happen, I'd be more careful when I wished.   
  
THE END.   



End file.
